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Re: Should the Colts make the playoffs next season,

Re: Should the Colts make the playoffs next season,

Last year we had everyone healthy at the exact right time. This year it just caught up with us without having Dwight.

You know how hippos are made out to be sweet and silly, like big cows, but are actually extremely dangerous and can kill you with stunning brutality? The Pacers are the NBA's hippos....Matt Moore CBS Sports....

Re: Should the Colts make the playoffs next season,

This was the key right here. This loss hurt a lot, and I mean a lot. I even cried after it was over. But while watching this game I realized that if we were lucky enough to get by San Diego, there was no way we'd beat New England without Dwight. Hopefully we draft well again next year, Gonzo and Addai continue to improve and Dwight is back fully healthy. We'll be right in the thick of it again next year, and have as good of a shot as anyone to win the Super Bowl. Plus we get to watch the games in the best football stadium in the world.

Re: Should the Colts make the playoffs next season,

This was the key right here. This loss hurt a lot, and I mean a lot. I even cried after it was over. But while watching this game I realized that if we were lucky enough to get by San Diego, there was no way we'd beat New England without Dwight. Hopefully we draft well again next year, Gonzo and Addai continue to improve and Dwight is back fully healthy. We'll be right in the thick of it again next year, and have as good of a shot as anyone to win the Super Bowl. Plus we get to watch the games in the best football stadium in the world.

Re: Should the Colts make the playoffs next season,

I realized that if we were lucky enough to get by San Diego, there was no way we'd beat New England without Dwight.

Yeah, this hit me about halfway through the first quarter.

We need to get Dwight back at 100%, and we need to draft/sign some extra passrushers. This defense falls apart without a passrush. Honestly, I blame Polian for not having at least one backup DE who could rush.

Re: Should the Colts make the playoffs next season,

What I don't understand is that we didn't play our starters in the waning games of the '05 campaign, either, and lost in the divisional game at home, wouldn't something be deduced simply from this?

It's not just the Colts, really. I saw the Chiefs, back in their heyday, lose multiple times to teams they were better than, I believe in large part because they rested their starters in Week 17, and then had a first round bye. I've been following this trend since around 1998.

While I think this is one thing teams are beginning to wise up on a little bit (notice Dungy didn't sit the starters for the entire game as previous coaches have done), it's a lot like fouling with a three point lead in basketball. You're really in a no win situation, and if you don't make the "right" decision (meaning the one that nets a win), you'll be criticized regardless of what you did.

I just personally prefer to play the starters every quarter you can. Then again, I'm also a fan of getting rid of the first round bye altogether, if possible.

Re: Should the Colts make the playoffs next season,

It's not just the Colts, really. I saw the Chiefs, back in their heyday, lose multiple times to teams they were better than, I believe in large part because they rested their starters in Week 17, and then had a first round bye. I've been following this trend since around 1998.

Remember that cold night in I think 1995 for the divisional game? No one gave the Colts a chance and we pulled out a close one. That's one of my favorite memories as a Colts fan.

Re: Should the Colts make the playoffs next season,

Do you think that if the Giants had not played to win against the Pats, and although they lost they played well, that they would have beaten the Cowboys today? I have some doubts.

Even though they lost that game, it was by far the most important game of their season. Eli's head is up, their whole sideline looks different. Everyone is confident now, I highly doubt they would be in the NFCCG if not had played that game.

Re: Should the Colts make the playoffs next season,

Remember that cold night in I think 1995 for the divisional game? No one gave the Colts a chance and we pulled out a close one. That's one of my favorite memories as a Colts fan.

That's actually the prime example I was thinking of. If they played that game 10 times as a normal in-rhythm game, the Chiefs win that game 8 out of 10 times, maybe 9 out of 10. But you take into account the momentum the Colts got from winning the Wild Card game, and the accumulated rust the Chiefs had from not playing hard for about three weeks, and conditions become perfect for an upset.

Re: Should the Colts make the playoffs next season,

Let's not also forget how having a week off and resting their starters in week 17 backfired for the Packers too...

It doesn't always backfire, and like I said, it's preference, just like fouling with a three point lead in the NBA. But if you want to get technical, and try to snipe your point across without actually posting any figures, you came up with one example of a team that may have benefited from resting starters, and I can think of one example of a team that suffered due to resting it's starters (Colts), and another two teams that benefited by not resting starters in week 17 (Pats, Giants).

Who's right? Probably nobody. But I didn't need sarcasm to try to make people feel stupid about their opinion to get my point across.

Re: Should the Colts make the playoffs next season,

If there's a knock to be made on Dungy, I don't think he's the most motivational of coaches. ...Especially in the sense of the short term. Sooooo let the team acquire some rust in ending weeks and bye week, don't properly motivate them in the playoff lead up or during the game itself, and go home with a loss.

I don't think that was entirely the problem here, but I don't discount it as a factor either.

I know some will argue these are professional athletes and they shouldn't need anyone to motivate them to do their jobs. Maybe in a perfect world that is true, but having a central figure who can galvanize everyone and get them to a perfect pitch, focused on a single goal, just can't be overlooked.

Also, count me among those that thinks there is no compromise if Dungy is serious about retirement. He shouldn't be talked into keeping one foot in coaching and the other in retirement.

-Bball

Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

------

"A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, thatís teamwork."

Re: Should the Colts make the playoffs next season,

I don't think rust was a factor today. The Chargers being the better team and zero pass rush against a QB who's shown he can be rattled by a pass rush were the factors. Plus I wonder why the coaching staff didn't change things up and throw in some blitz packages in the 2nd half when they saw the pass rush wasn't happening.

That said, I've never agreed with giving healthy players game 16 off if you have the next week off. It just has never made sense to me. And I do think rust was a main reason for the Pitt loss 2 years ago.

If rust had been a problem the Colts A) wouldn't have looked so good on their 1st 2 drives yesterday and B) the defense wouldn't have played MUCH better in the 1st half than the second. But I still think they should play that last week. 1 week off is enough.

Re: Should the Colts make the playoffs next season,

The team wasn't prepared - period. Dungy's conservative nature hurts him in the playoffs. Before last year he was known as a coach who couldn't win the big game and a big reason is because he doesn't make adjustments before playoff games. The great coaches have a wrinkle, a small change they implement. Not Dungy. The Chargers made a few changes and the Colts didn't. Add to that the lack of execution by the defense and you had a horrible loss.

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
- Benjamin Franklin

Re: Should the Colts make the playoffs next season,

I thought the Colt's changed a lot of things yesterday, and to their detriment. For one, they had Sanders practically playing on the LOS on D all day and without a pass rush it left the back three defenders totally exposed. The Colts also went three wides a lot of the day, something they didn't do a lot of this year and it worked well BETWEEN THE 20'S. Getting inside the 35 four times and getting no points is a killer though. And how many times does the ball have to bounce of Kenton Keith's hands before they realize that he cannot catch it? The lack of D-line pressure absolutely killed us and Brock and Mathis didn't look like they made it all the way back from injuries. Special Teams did their job. In retrospect, It seems they should have just played Gonzo in Marvin's slot and waited until next year to bring # 88 back. And what happened to Utect? He had a nice catch on the first drive, but was not heard from since.
Somebody might have a better record of it, but between the Pacers and the Colt's our record as home favorites in the playoffs is terrible.

Re: Should the Colts make the playoffs next season,

If there's a knock to be made on Dungy, I don't think he's the most motivational of coaches. ...Especially in the sense of the short term. Sooooo let the team acquire some rust in ending weeks and bye week, don't properly motivate them in the playoff lead up or during the game itself, and go home with a loss.

I don't think that was entirely the problem here, but I don't discount it as a factor either.

I know some will argue these are professional athletes and they shouldn't need anyone to motivate them to do their jobs. Maybe in a perfect world that is true, but having a central figure who can galvanize everyone and get them to a perfect pitch, focused on a single goal, just can't be overlooked.

Also, count me among those that thinks there is no compromise if Dungy is serious about retirement. He shouldn't be talked into keeping one foot in coaching and the other in retirement.

-Bball

I couldn't agree more than this. Either you give it your all or you don't. Players are supposed to give it their all through the season, the same should be expected out of coaches. I don't fault Tony Dungy one bit if he only halfway wants to coach next season. He has achieved everything that a coach would want to achieve. But the team and fans shouldn't suffer because TD's heart is only halfway here.

And you're right, TD's motivational skills before big games needs to be questioned. How many times has this team come out completely flat in big games? You have the Steelers game in 05, the Pats and Bears games last season, and now this. We won the Pats and Bears games, but if we lose you have to blame it on us coming out flat---especially the NE game.

I appreciate everything that TD has done for the team and city. But it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if he decided to leave the sideline.

Say what you want about Belichick, but his teams are ready to play more often than not. And his play every game like its the end of the world strategy this year seems to be the way to go.